Rolling Boy
by Madam Fiction
Summary: Lonely Boy is always in a Dream, that will never become true. If you could get inside his noisy little head, you would see all the pain, so disturbed of the vain "Its a matter of time finding the odd one in the end, When you realize it you're still Rolling"
1. I'll be Rolling for a Lifetime

_**I published this Story on AO3 a while ago, and I finished it recently. So I wanted to put it here too because I've left this place soo abandoned. Hope you Enjoy**_

* * *

 _ **O**_ _ **ne more time**_ _ **O**_ _ **ne more time  
**_ _ **E**_ _ **ach day**_ _ **I**_ _ **will be rolling one more time  
**_ _ **S**_ _ **o he says,**_ _ **S**_ _ **o he says  
**_ _ **A**_ _ **s he plays the meaning of it to h**_ _ **is**_ _ **spoken words  
**_ Are you ready yet? _Not even close_. _ **  
**_ _ **T**_ _ **he future is still so far away to me  
**_ _ **S**_ _ **o**_ _ **I'**_ _ **m holding my breath, just now**_

He always stares up, to an endless void of blue. He has learned with the slow pass of time, that it changes colors when the sun moves in its eternal waltz around him. Rolling, Rolling, Rolling, _Rolling_ as he does every day since he can remember.

People stare, people side-glance at him, people gawk, people have pity in their eyes, people judge him, _people are disgusting_.

This world has varieties of his kin. _The world is infested with his kin_. Tall, small, strong, weak, thin, chubby, fat, white, black, boys, girls. It doesn't matter the complex, it doesn't matter where you're from, it doesn't matter what you are. The only thing that matters is the big bundle of weight in your back.

You can see them all the time, the void of blue is infested with them at certain parts of the color-changing-waltz. His small frail body throbs, aches with grief, with longing, with wanting. He wishes he was able to be up there.

"Shouyou!"

The back of his neck hurts a little when he faces the direction where the voice came from, his bare feet are buried on the sticky goo that was a bunch of strawberries a while ago. His knees are tainted in red, and his hands grasp tightly the hard wood of the container.

"Shouyou, are you done?"

His mother enters the fence that separates their home from the wild strawberry garden. Even thought that she's covered in sweat, her arms are a little red and a pink tint adorns her cheeks, she looks radiant. Her white wings are a little small, compared to his father's, with gray blotches and silver tips at the end.

"Just finished actually. My feet ended more sticky than last time, I'm sure we can make really good Jam with this tub" he says with a smile

The smile on her face was a bit tired, but grateful at the same time. She goes for a stool that's near the house door, and goes back with him.

Hinata Shouyou has been smashing, dancing and stepping over strawberries since he has memory. Since so long that he recently is getting tired of the smell. He wishes he could do something else with his weekends, like go for a long walk or play with other children.

But he can't _because he has no wings_.

Because from the very start of his life, it was either survive or die. _Ala Ianis._ The cause of his silent suffering since he can reason and understand the looks from people. Fragile and malformed wing muscles that weren't supposed to grow until he had 5. A deadly disease that only 1 of 100 babies could develop. Turned out he was the lucky number 1 of the bunch. To annihilate it you had to remove the source, you had to kill the core of the virus.

Sometimes you have to make sacrifices in your life.

He grew out healthy, learned to walk, crawl, talk, run, jump. To smash, dance and laugh while stepping over strawberries at the age of 4. He learned how to make a proper Jar of Jam at age 6.

Yet, it was very difficult, very _hard_ to make a friend.

 _You're tiny_

 _You're very weak_

 _Your hair is ugly_

 _You have no wings_

 _Where are your wings?_

Freak

 _Freak_

 **Freak**

Freak

 _ **Freak**_

He knows people are disgusting, their minds turn cogs and weird things that end up getting the wrong side of the picture, they never have in mind to turn another angle and admire the view, they just assume and get an instant picture of how one truly is without consent. But children, _children are terrifying,_ children just look at you, examine you, and they can determine if you are friend or foe. They are righteous, and very sincere. But they don't like it at all if you're different from what they are normally accustomed at seeing.

Of a giant apple tree with red apples, he's the only one who turns out green.

He sometimes wishes he could quit smashing strawberries and keep trying until he made a friend. But other times, he just wishes for everyone to disappear and drown in a container of the most fat and strong strawberries.

Before he realizes it, his mother has finished cleaning his feet. And he's walking with her to the storage room.

"We just get all the stuff out, and then you can rest" says his mother with a gentle smile "Thanks for helping me"

He smiles back, and grabs the other big wooden spoon that's being offered to him.

* * *

His life consisted in _Rolling,_ after finishing with all the bottles of Jam—which always varied from 78 to 92—his next job was selling and delivering each one of them until the garden grew full again in two weeks. He had two pairs of Roller Skates, protection and a cushioned bag in case an accident happened, also a frying pan if someone decided to assault him. His job as delivery boy started after he turned 8 when his mom got pregnant. His dad helped with all the equipment and accompanied him the first two weeks on the rounds around town and over it. They had a list of their clients, and it was a matter of one month when he remembered them all.

He never joined a Club when he was on Middle School, it wasn't obligatory, but he had a job to do, he had to do his rounds of the day and get back home to try to do his homework. Also, it wasn't as if somebody would want him to join a club.

He played tho, with his dad when it was summer, or when he did his deliveries very quickly. He was fast, very flexible and had one hell of a lot of stamina. His ol' man's face always ended a little red and very nasty. His short ponytail always falling, leaving a mess of orange curls. His brown wings were huge, and rustled from all that moving when ever they went out.

It varied sometimes, from a race across the field of rice that was near their home, to a skating competition. He also learned to play some ball sports, basketball was really fun, their one-on-one matches ending in a tie or either of them winning. Squash was more about reacting fast enough to his again the ball with the racket. The other one he liked was Volleyball, they once had a court for themselves and his dad taught him the basics. But unlike basketball, this game could not be played one against one. All he could do was get receives, spike and Volley the ball until his forearms hurt.

His Middle School Summer's were spent Rolling around town and other parts, playing basketball and volleyball with his dad, smashing more strawberries that grew more richer and juicy, and lying down on the tree near his home where the sunset view over the hill was amazing.

High School started in a blink of an eye, his dad in a ritual of celebration pierced his right ear and decorated it with small black earrings, it hurt at the beginning, but after seeing the final result and comparing it with his dad's left ear, he smiled wild.

His school of choice was Miyagi's Prefecture _Karasuno._ It was 20 minutes from home, and mornings were very chilly, but the wide range of his deliveries were very close the school and the nearest sweet shop was there too.

He thanked the heaven's that he owned a bicycle, two bags of luggage would've been a toll on his back.

Everything was turning out just great, he arrived in time, found quickly one of the heads of the school and told them of his package, they were really happy to help him with guarding the bag full of Jam Jars while he was on classes. On the opening ceremony nobody batted an eye on his direction, and he was glad for it. He felt at ease for a long amount of time, his hopes on making a friend started to show again. Hopefully, _hopefully,_ this was going to be his year. _Definitely_.

It all went crumbling down when he entered the classroom and everything went quiet. Even thought there were like, 14 out of the 30 something of people, he could definitely feel them. Stares, judging stares, 14 sets of eyes looking at him with different things written on them.

 _Horror_

 _Shock_

 _Pity_

 _Disgust_

 _Nothing_

Freak

 _Freak_

 **Freak**

Freak

 _ **FREAK**_

Class starts, schedules are passed, announcements are made, introductions then come and its his turn.

"My name is Hinata Shouyou, I'm 15... _" I want to make friends, please don't look at me like an anomaly, I'm not what you think "_ I like summer— _" please give me a chance "—_ and I hate being Hated _"_

He drops to his seat _and he can feel it_ , remorse circling around, some eyes going down with the silence that he planned on causing but was slowly regretting.

He was pretty sure that all his High School life would pass quickly as his Middle School one.

* * *

His week passes so slowly that he feels tortured, classes are boring, he didn't expect Biology and English to be so simple, neither for Math or History to be so confusing, each time work pairs were obligatory on a subject, he was left alone at the end, fake smiles and dark smirks on each face his eyes met when looking for someone to work with.

He spent brakes alone, sitting on the rooftop or on the hill near the Gym number 2. He hears the wind blowing and feels the grass with his hands, his brown eyes move up to the sky and count the small amount of clouds that pass slowly through his blue void. The wind blows again and the leaves of the Tree behind him rustle in a calm way.

He closes his eyes and listens.

His mind drifts slowly and his mind is filled with clouds, leaves and nothing else but him flying on his void, the currents of air flow smoothly through his arms and his hair rustles like the leaves, everything is cool and calm, he wishes for this to never end.

"HEY!"

Startled, he jumps slightly, his heart keeps beating fast and his eyes search for the source of disrupter.

There's a tall boy in front of him with a nasty scowl, his arms are crossed and he's probably annoyed.

"Ah... you need something?" _oh great_

Tall guy changes his looks for a brief minute, and turns his head to his left while his eyes narrow slightly.

"You dropped this on the morning" his right arm stretches, and on his hand are a pair of brown aerial goggles

Hinata stares at them for a moment, and his hands instantly move to his left pocket. He was positive he pocketed them after locking his bike near a changing rooms building.

"Thanks, I've would have gone mad If I didn't find them" he takes the goggles and offers a smile, next he proceeds to inspect and clean them.

"Why'd you need those anyways?" Hinata hears another ruffling sound, and he's sure its not from the tree

"Sometimes dust and dirt are in the air and slow me down on my job, I don't want my eyes to itch"

He stands up and walks down the hill, his hands occupied with the cleaning of the lens. Brake bell rings. And the sound of rushing footsteps reach his ears.

"Kageyama"

Hinata's head snaps back at the boy. And now he looks at him for a second time. He's taller than him, his raven hair matches his humongous black wings, his narrowed eyes shine blue and he's looking at him intensely.

"Ha?"

Hinata was sure there was a vain popping out from the right side of his forehead

"My name is Kageyama Tobio" he says again, with more determination

"Why are you telling me your name?"

That was probably one of the most stupid questions he has ever asked in his life. He has never got past the point of waving at someone since people just stare, assume and walk away. He never thought the day would come that another person—outside from his family—would decide to exchange words with him.

"Because it's the proper thing to do dumbass" his blue eyes never left from him "You also owe me a favor" he finished with a smirk

"What? Why?" he asked a little lost

"Because if it weren't for me, you would have lost those things"

"But I didn't ask you to do it" he said crossing his arms "I don't get why I would owe you a favor, you did a kind act and that's it, there's no reason for me to repay you" his eyes squint slowly at the other boy

"What if I need something when I have a problem, would you help me?"

"I could, maybe"

The sound of chattering started to resonate on the distance, moving masses of bodies and sounds of footsteps heading to a direction filled the atmosphere. Hinata stares for another moment and turns around to follow the flow of the mass current of people that headed to classes.

"Then I have a problem" said Kageyama following him

"What is it?"

"I don't know your name"

Hinata stopped abruptly. This was a chance right? This had to be his chance. Someone was talking to him normally, from the small eye contact that he had with this tall boy he never saw the emotions that people displayed when ever they had eye-hold on him. There was no Disgust, no Pity, no Arrogance, no Superiority. Just nothing else than awkwardness and curiosity.

 _This can be, this can be, this can be you chance._

"I..." but wait. _What if he was faking it_? What if everything of this was a lie? What if all of this was some sort of bet? What if in reality, at the final moment, he is left alone again? He knew of back stabbing friends from his father's books, he knew friends at the end would betray you just to play with your head. At the end everything would go wrong, he would be ridiculed, he would be made fun of, he would be alone again. "I said I could help you, but I never said that I _would_ do it"

He made his decision, he would rather be alone than _left_ alone. He walked forward and disappeared from Kageyama Tobio's field of view.

* * *

Next week passed, and he was glad that he wasn't caught or spotted by Kageyama. He probably forgot about it already. It was really bad and stupid of him to have answered like that, he was turning kind of dramatic and it was not like he had a lot of verbal contact with people, he was probably going to get his head cracked with more smartass phrases next time he had to answer a basic question or request.

He wanted to do something about it, but what was done _was done_ , he really didn't want for more situations like that to happen, he just wished he had a proper social life and somebody out of his house to trust. And he needed to focus on the trip back to school from his delivery service. His bike and belongings were stored on the area near Gym 2. His bike was on the same place, that was a relief, but his bag was locked inside the changing room he left it on the afternoon. The sun was setting and twilight was scattering over the void. Hinata was panicking inside, the school was closed and he was left alone with a secured bicycle and backpack with the key to the chain.

His pulse slowed a bit when he heard noise inside the gym, someone was playing at this hour, and maybe someone could help him to look for his bag. He skated to the door that was mid-open and poked his head to watch.

There was a Volleyball match playing, older people against the school's team. The Marker read 20-16 Elders in favor. The ball bounced back and forward between the net. His eyes focused on the nice blocking of a thundering spike a tall guy made.

"Can I help you?"

His eyes darted from the court to the man that greeted him at the door.

"Ah yeah, excuse me, is there a head teacher or someone who can help me? I left some belongings on a locker room but it's already closed and I really need to go home"

"Didn't your club end hours ago?"

"I don't go at any club sir, I work around town, and I have permission to leave my belongings here before I go to make my rounds"

The man stared at him for a moment. And Hinata was sure that he didn't give a good first impression, a messy haired ginger wearing a black vested-hoodie with ragged shorts, Goggles hanging on his neck and some sweat on his brow. He surely looked tired and kind of gross.

"See that man there? The one with the glasses?" he asked pointing at said person, Hinata nodded "He's the Sensei at charge of closing the gym, tell him about it maybe he can open the locker for you"

"Thanks!" he said with relief

He untied his Skates and entered barefooted at the place "Sorry for intruding" he said at the man

"No problem"

The match escalated its pace quickly as the School team recovered lost points, he made his way to the other side where the small bespectacled Sensei was watching the game. Hinata was glad that he didn't caught too much attention.

"Um, excuse me"

"Yes? You need something?"

Hinata had chills running down his spine the moment Sensei's eyes caught a hold of him. He was scared of finding some of the familiar emotions in them.

"Ah, well I-I left my Bag with my belongings on a locker room outside, but it's locked and I would like to know if you could help me" he said nervously

The Sensei eyed him for a moment, and realization was what lit his eyes "You're Hinata-kun right?"

Hinata nodded a little baffled when there was no negative emotion in his face

"Yes, the Vice Principal told me about it, I was expecting you to be a little more early to recollect your things"

"I had to do another round for Jar-Refill Picking" he said scratching the back of his head

"It's alright" he said with a broad smile "I had the time to bring your bag here, just wait a little, let me go get it"

Hinata was startled, this was one of the fewer people who had been kind to him without jumping to assumptions or judged him for what he was and not _who_ he was. He sighed in relief and decided to watch the remaining part of the game. 23-22 Elders still in favor. His eyes never darted away from the ball, bouncing around the court and slamming against the floor when a point was taken.

Match point arrived so quickly, and the Elders team held the serving time. The guy was tall, and there was a tense mood on the atmosphere, when he jumped and hit the ball, too many things happened in that small amount of time. Something fell from the opposite side of the court, a quiet curse was barely heard, as screams of warning for "Takeda-Sensei!" rang around the gym.

The ball went speeding down where Sensei was crouched picking whatever it was that fell from his hands. He didn't had enough time to move, and Hinata did what his instinct told him to.

It all went in a blur, one moment he was on one side of the court, and in the other, his fore arms connected with the ball with a quiet ' _Bump_ '. His bare feet were a bit hot, his breathing slowed down for a moment, and his eyes darted where the ball landed safely on a Pepper haired guy's hands.

He turned around immediately

"Sensei are you alright?" he asked panicked

Takeda Ittetsu was gaping at him, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Where did you come from?"

"Ha? I was standing where you left me Sensei"

"How did you get here?"

" _I ran_ " he said it with his ' _obviously_ _'_ voice

Hinata was getting uncomfortable the moment he realized the gym was so silent for his likings.

"Oi brat!"

Hinata's head snapped instantly at the direction of the wild-haired man

"Where did you learn that?" he asked with a serious tone that Hinata didn't like at all

"Someone taught me" was one of his caution answers

"As If I'd believe that, are you aware of what you did?"

Hinata frowned "I stopped the ball"

"You just did a Perfect Serve Receive _Brat_ , those are really hard to manage and learn for one person, but then you just come out of nowhere and do it like it's nothing, so I'm going to ask you again, _where did you learn that_?"

"I already told you _Sir_ , someone taught me, why is it so hard to believe?"

 _Oh no_ , He was sure he said something wrong because the man was now glaring at him, and he had a bunch of people staring at him, and Sensei was behind him a little bit disorientated. He could feel the small hairs in his arms and neck stand up, his arm and knee pads felt hot suddenly and he felt that he was probably sweating.

"Hold it, I know where I've seen you" said the man that greeted him at the door, his face showed excitement "Are you related to Hinata Minato?"

The Wild-haired man who Hinata assumed was _the Coach_ , and several others, snapped their heads at the direction of the other man

"You know my dad?"

" _Dad_?" said the Coach with his eyes looking back at him, barely gouging out of his skull

The man face split in two with his wild Grin "Oh yes I do, who cannot forget Ookamiori's ' _Minato All-Trades_ _'_? Just remembering that orange mop you can make the connection, he taught you how to receive didn't he?"

"Ah, yeah... we spent some time in the summer practicing" he said very nervous

"Who's ' _Minato All-Trades_ '?" asked a freckled boy

The coach now looked scandalized as did some members of the elder team. "Iwate Prefecture's one and only Hinata Minato, _Fire Ball_ _of Hell._ He started playing as a Libero in Middle School and rose from the floor to play each position in Volleyball, joined Ookamiori's Volleyball team and went too to Basketball practices" said the bespectacled man on the other side of the court

"And now turns out this Pipsqueak is the son of a prodigy" said the Coach grunting

Hinata shrugged his shoulders and helped Sensei to stand up, small muttering could be heard around the gym, in the process he also grabbed his bag and went toward the exit door.

"If you excuse me..." he said quietly

He was blocked by a tall looming wall, goosebumps ran all over him and he now felt desperation cover his whole body in a blink of an eye.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked the dead serious voice of Kageyama Tobio

 _Great_ , just what he needed. He looked up and held contact with glaring eyes

"I'm trying to go home Kageyama-san"

"You're not going anywhere, you made us lose that last point, and you are going to mend it"

"I didn't make you lose anything, it was decided even before you knew it, and it was either saving Sensei or let him be hit by the ball" he said with balled fists "I don't have to mend anything, even if I had to I wouldn't help you at all"

"I think you could"

"Well keep thinking it, please let me leave"

"Join the Volleyball Club"

Hinata was sure he heard someone splutter something incoherent and some gasps behind him, he stared up with wide eyes at Kageyama who had again that serious stare.

" _What?_ " he asked hoarsely

"You just heard me, join the Team, you have the reflexes and speed and I'm pretty sure you could do more, that receive has already given you some credit and let's not mention that you are the son of a prodigy"

"What makes you think I would do it, huh?" he asked with one of his nastier glares

Kageyama smirked "Because you owe me a favor"

Hinata gripped his hair "I already told you that I don't owe you anything!"

"You owe me that _and_ your _name_ "

"Like hell I'm telling you, I'm not joining, please Kageyama-san Let. Me. _Leave_."

Kageyama crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, his smug smirk didn't leave "Make me"

" _Fine_ "

It all went faster than he expected, he punched the guy on the stomach leaving him with no air and jumped over him to get out, the landing hurt a little, but he was going to survive. Everything he did was done at a marveling speed, he grabbed his Skaters, and ran for his bicycle, his hands searching frantically for the pocket that had the Key to the chain. Stuffing his bag and skaters on the back-basket of the bicycle he mounted the thing barefoot and pedaled like mad out of the place. His bare feet took him to the nearest safe place where he could put some decent footing to keep up with the road home.

He felt really bad, he was sure this was probably going to bite him back at some point. He was glad Golden Week started the next day.

* * *

Sweet school break could only be spent going to town and selling how many jars he could, on Friday he had a free day and on Saturday recounting began. With the amount of money they had, some went to the savings and the other small amount was going to be spent on ingredients and one or two on some personal things.

He was left alone with Natsu on Sunday when his parents went to buy the things, this week they were starting the whole process of making their product and that meant that he had to smash the eight baskets of strawberries the whole day to get the first phase done.

Hinata set the container in the middle of their huge back yard, the boxes of strawberries were in line near the tree that had the shower hose in case he got really filthy with red goo. The wooden spoon was on the far corner of the fence and Natsu was making mud castles near their rose bushes. Equipped with a swimming trouser and a cleaning equipment, he went to grab the first box and emptied it inside the wooden tub.

He spent the past two hours smashing his feet on red sticky goo. Natsu helped him with getting the remaining boxes inside the tub. The content was slowly rising until it arrived to his shins. He sinked his arms inside the red puddle beneath him, and started to stir them around, grabbing some pieces that weren't smashed properly and crushing them on his hands.

The sun was burning his bare back, and small droplets of sweat started to accumulate on his brow. Just two more baskets and then he could shower and rest. Grabbing the seventh one, the berries fell to the sticky substance and Hinata began yet again to step over them. He was glad that his mom and Natsu cleaned them completely, he didn't want to have greens sticking on his feet and shins.

"Nii-san, there's someone scary at the door" said Natsu from the white fence door, her head sticking closely to where he assumed was the peeping hole.

"Get away from there Natsu, mom said you shouldn't be poking your eyes wherever you can" he said a little annoyed, he hoped it wasn't another angry old farmer, he had enough of those and their complaints of water property stealing.

"But he looks creepy, and he's looking back at me"

Damn, just what he needed. "Get away from the door, I'll go see"

His hair sticked on his forehead, and he felt really hot and tired. He licked his sticky hand and grimaced at the sour-sweet taste. Sighing he got out of the tub, and headed straight to the door, sandals be damned, he wanted to get the job done quickly and he also wanted a quick shower. He arrived at the door and sighed while he unlocked it.

"Look, I'm pretty sure mom already told you _Sir_ —" he started saying with his eyes closed in annoyance, pushing his hair back with a dirty red hand, probably staining himself with strawberry leftovers "—we're not stealing your damn water, and it's spread among the block in equal measures, _and we pay for it_ , so if you are going to _yammer_ yet aga—"

Of all the people he was expecting in the backyard door, he was not prepared to see a blank faced Kageyama Tobio on the back side entrance of the garden. Hinata stared just for a moment, trying to find the reason for this idiot to be here and not in other part of the Prefecture, wasn't the Volleyball team having an Training Camp or something? Where the hell did this guy came from? How did he knew where he lived? Was he some kind of stalker or something? He was not ready to start hearing things about favors or complains and he started to speculate that maybe he wanted revenge for that air-sucking punch he gave him the other day.

"What are _you_ doing here?" was his brilliant and intelligent question

Life came back to Kageyama's face, he opened and closed his mouth three times and blushed slightly "I—I got lost"

Hinata squinted suspiciously his eyes "You got lost?"

Kageyama nodded, completely embarrassed

"Could you be so kind to tell me how in _heck_ did you managed _to get lost_ in the far side of the town?"

"Afternoon run, I lost the team and turned the wrong direction after tying my shoes"

Okay, Hinata now stared for a longer period of time, _unbelievable._ He sighed, a really long one, and held into the door for a little more.

"Come inside, you would at least want some rest right?" Kageyama looked at him with surprise

"I wouldn't want to intrude—"

"You are not, now get inside before I leave you out"

Kageyama did so immediately. Hinata closed the door and turned at the direction of the container to get the small recipient that lay next to the stool. "Hey Natsu, go get some water, we have a guest"

The little girl eyed the stranger for a brief moment, before running inside the house.

Hinata turned in direction of the tree to get a quick rinse and resume his task.

"So, afternoon run huh? I thought one had to take those on the morning to warm up" he started awkwardly the conversation, his left hand turning on the water.

"We did take one, we've been following the same schedule since Wednesday, Coach decided to make some kind of drill today"

The cold water felt wonderful against his skin, he started to wash up immediately and clean all the red stuff from his hands and feet.

"Hmm, that's nice, when does your training end?" his hands grabbed the recipient and filled it with water before he closed the faucet

"Tomorrow, we have a match against Nekoma High"

"Nekoma? As in ' _The Cats_ '?"

He could feel Kageyama eyeing every movement he made, his hands washed his feet again and in a quick action he stood over the stool

"What do you know?" asked suspiciously the raven haired boy

"Well, dad told me that in the past they were great!" he jumped inside the container, earning a nasty ' _Squish_ ' sound, and began to steer the goo "Thought opponents, really nice offense/defense play and members with the passing of the years. Made it to the finals in the Nationals, but lost them if my memory doesn't fail me"

Kageyama nodded

"Nii-san, here's the water" said little Natsu from the kitchen entrance with two glasses of water on her hands.

Kageyama took one and Hinata the other, finishing it in one swallow.

"Go get me the last box, I really want to finish this"

"Won't mom say something if she finds out? She says you have to squish box by box"

Hinata smiled devilishly and winked at her "Mom doesn't have to know, also Who do you think I am? You'll see I'll _pulp_ erise each one of them!"

"Okay!" she said with a big smile before running to get the box

"Exactly, what are you doing?" asked Kageyama with a frown

"Killing masses of strawberries because I'm the ultimate Garden Lord, harvest this week was so kind that we were gifted with the most fat and juicy of the entire land, It is—per se— my job and duty to execute them all so the whole world can survive another day with the blessings of Jam"

He heard a snort, and proceeded with his smashing. Natsu arrived with the box and with the help of Kageyama the two emptied its contents inside the tub.

"Does this has something to do with your mysterious work, mister Garden Lord?" asked Kageyama with a teasing voice

"Yeah, stuff can't sell itself without being made, I'm stuck also with the tiring job" he answered with gritted teeth, his feet pushing up and down the mixture of solid and slimy. "I smash this, and then mom prepares it, and over the week we have our ware, she plants them again, and while we wait for another two weeks I sell the product"

"Don't strawberries take a long time to grow?"

"Processed manure and other weird stuff from the Alchemical department help this babies grow much faster" he said when he dived his arms inside "It's nothing to worry about, dad says its safe to use, consumers don't suffer from deceases or other side effects"

"Your dad's an Alchemist?"

"With a Degree in Botanic too" he added

Hinata kept stepping and smashing the fruit for another hour before finishing with his final product. Leaning over the side of the container, his hands grasped the edges, and his head turned skyward, leaving a sigh escape from his mouth. He closed his eyes and felt the sun bath him with warmth, his legs throbbed and his feet itched. He waited a little longer, gaining some strength that got lost in his squashing task.

He felt he was being watched, but he made no movement, Kageyama was sitting on the stairs of the veranda. He was so quiet for his likes.

"So... sorry If I sound rude, but don't you plan on going back to your Camp? It's been like one or two hours and the fact that you haven't shown up might make them worried"

"I told you that I'm lost" said Kageyama with a grumpy voice

"That doesn't change the fact that you have wings and you could fly back"

"Well... I can't"

Hinata's neck did a ' _Snap_ 'sound when his eyes landed on Kageyama "Do you have a flying restriction or something? I'm pretty sure you can glide on the marked altitude limit"

Kageyama's head averted in complete embarrassment, his eyes glaring at the floor "It's not that..."

Hinata looked at him for another amount of time. His hands were gripping the edges of the stair he was sitting upon, his nails probably digging the wood. His whole body was tense and his black wings were still and prepared, as if ready for some kind of strike, fore something that could hurt. And his averted pink face and glare made his image an art work of pure shame.

 _It clicked_ , and Hinatas eyes opened wide, he understood, he completely understood. "You _don't know_ how... right?" his voice was quiet, it held no emotion, because there was nothing to feel about it when he knew that feeling too.

The humongous wings started to bristle, and Kageyama's eyes were now on fire, glaring with so much force at him "And what if I don't? What are you going to do? Laugh at me? Tell me how pathetic I am? How worthless I am?" he spat, with force, with fear, with anger.

Hinata stared back blankly at him, his empty brown eyes looking back at those enraged blue ones. This staring contest felt like it was lasting forever, no one said a word. But Hinata decided to do something, he turned around, and hugged his sides.

"Tell me... what do you see?"

He knew what the other boy saw, he could feel how the power of his glare died the moment his back was exposed. No noise came from the other party, and Hinata was suddenly the one gaining the anger Kageyama had just moments ago.

"What are you waiting for? _Tell me what you see_!"

There was a pause. "Scars..."

"These, these _scars_ you see? They came with a price. I had to do an exchange, a very nasty and mortal exchange" he turned back and leaned on the edges before him, gripping them with force "The bargain of a life time, _literally._ I traded what makes you a normal person in the eyes of others for the right to live, to survive."

Kageyama was turning pale each second, his eyes now filled with fright.

Hinata laughed "And there it is! Took you long enough to look at me like that huh? I have to live up with those kind of stares my whole life. Fear, Disgust, Pity, Sadness, Arrogance, Superiority. I knew soon enough you would join the bunch. You're feeling embarrassed or worthless? _You are an Idiot_ , you could learn how to fly in no time, you can ask someone to teach you, even if you are socially awkward or whatever. _You have a chance._ Even if one of your wings is a bit shorter than the other, it wouldn't matter because you could figure it out, you could make it work"

The silence was deafening, it ached, hurt, prickled on his skin, and his heart was hammering on his ribcage, he felt like crying and the only thing he could do about it was glare at the raven boy.

"Never come and spat me on the face your stupid things about being worthless and pathetic. _You know nothing._ You know absolutely nothing how that truly feels"

"But you're not"

That startled Hinata, it felt like a quick slap on the face

" _Excuse me_?"

"You are not pathetic, you... you have a lot of potential in everything. You're fast, flexible, your jumping prowess is on another level. You have determination, you are clever, and nice. You have a chance too, I may not know you very well, but I would like to. You intrigue me because I cant understand you, why would you keep working in something that is so tiring? Where do you get the energy to keep going on? Why are you so nice that you are not asking for favors in return? I don't understand that. You could do anything, yet you are the reason you can't accept what you can do"

 _That was it_

" _I know the things I'm capable of_ , I really try like you have no Idea. But it's not _me_ the thing that's preventing me. You want to know the real reason is?" he asked with a dark voice. Kageyama stared back with narrowed eyes, waiting for the answer " _People,_ people are the reason why I can't step forward. People are the reason why I feel worthless and pathetic. Every time I move, they push me back, because I'm a thing that they're not familiar with seeing. _'Has no wings?'_ out cast it, lock their potential, nobody wants to see an anomaly taking the spot light or simply walking down the road. Since I can remember I've only been judged for _what_ I am, and not truly _who_ I am. You know what I have learned? That people are _disgusting_. An I've learned to _Roll_ with it, _Rolling is the only thing I can do_ to go unnoticed and avoid the judgment of Society. If there is nobody out there that can see past _Different_ , then I'm totally stuck forever with the Rolling"

That was the moment Natsu decided to open the door "Nii-san, Mama and Papa will arrive soon, I saw their silhouettes a moment ago"

Hinata Sighed and stepped out of the Container, and made his route back to the Tree. "Tell mom that I finished with Tub, will you Princess? I'm going to get Kageyama-san back to his home"

Nastu nodded enthusiastically her unruly head and chirped "'Kay"

Water rushed down, and Hinata cleaned himself very quickly, he grabbed the towel that was hanging on the fence and dried himself, taking off his swimming trouser on the process and wrapping the towel on his waist.

"Wait for me here, I won't take long" he said to Kageyama before entering the house.

* * *

He now Knew why he—would— _never_ took the trip to school on Roller Skates, damn _climbs_ were a nightmare. He was relieved Kageyama knew how to skate— _"Please tell me you know how to use them" he said with_ _quite the_ _face_ —but that didn't help the fact that from the 20 minutes he made on bicycle it doubled to 40 with this climbs.

Kageyama led the rest of the way to the Cabin, when they arrived he checked if someone was inside, a pretty girl came from inside and chided Kageyama with a calm tone.

"Thanks for bringing him back" she said with a long bow

"It was no problem, really!" he said with a pink blush

She turned back at Kageyama's direction "The team is on Gym 3, Takeda-sensei assumed you got back to your home or something, you will have to justify your absence. I'm pretty sure the Coach will go hard on you Kageyama-kun"

Kageyama nodded, and the pretty girl went inside again, not before saying goodbye to Hinata.

The ginger sighed, reached for his backpack and gave Kageyama his shoes.

"Good Luck tomorrow... I'm pretty sure it's going to be a difficult match" he started a little awkwardly

Kageyama gave him back his Skates, accepting his shoes "Thanks... we'll work hard"

"You'd better be" said the small boy earning a little glare from the raven

"Thanks... for helping me I mean..." he avoided his eyes and turned his body slightly to the right, his hand rubbed his neck

Hinata giggled "As I said, it wasn't anything. Also... I—I wanted to apologize... for the punch the other day, I was panicked that I overacted"

Kageyama eyed him surprised "It's... alright..."

They stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do next. Hinata turned his body in the other direction. His hands shoving the pair of Skates inside his bag. "Well... Goodbye..."

He started to skate slowly, ready for his trip back.

"Wait!"

He stopped

"Can... can Ibecome a _someone_?" Hinata looked incredulously at him. Kageyama turned red "I mean, the nobody that can see beyond the Different. Can I change that to someone?"

The ginger's eyes went very wide in surprise and disbelief, his heart hammered on his ribcage "I... I don't know, can you? Are you willing to?"

Kageyama's face was now serious with determination. "Yes"

He never though that a small word, a simple answer like that, could mean so much to him. Kageyama turned around, his back broad and straight, determined along with his footsteps.

"Hinata"

Kageyama stopped, and turned back to look in disbelief at him.

"My name is Hinata Shouyou" he finished with a bright grin

The raven's eyes went into a mixture of emotions, Hinata laughed and skated back to his home.


	2. Come with me, you must be Tired

_**One last time, One last time  
You don't have to roll anymore now  
So I said, so I said  
**_ _ **H**_ _ **e plays sounds of laughter into nothingness  
**_ Are you ready yet? _I'm ready now_ _ **  
**_ _ **You**_ _ **must be so sick and tired of this**_

 _ **Don't stop your breathing  
Right Now**_

He wasn't completely ready to start off this weird friendship with the awkward dolt that was Kageyama Tobio. The first times that the raven boy approached to him, Hinata nearly had a cardiac arrest. All his juice ended showered on Kageyama's incredulous face, he also rewarded the other boy with a slap on the head.

"The hell was that for?!"

"Stop sneaking on me you Idiot! You think that's the normal way to approach people?!"

"Who said there was a way to approach people?!"

"Haa? Don't you watch how _others_ interact? I'm pretty sure that the _appearing out of nowhere_ option hasn't gotten on the ' _Social Interaction Manual_ ' yet, be sure to read it and upgrade your skills before you scare people out of their skin"

Kageyama's cheeks turned pink "Dumbass, as if that book even existed, It's not my fault that you space out in inappropriate moments, your short attention span is the reason you'll die chocking on grape juice"

"I don't have a _short_ attention span! I can concentrate pretty well!"

"You also make weird faces whenever your high on juice"

Hinata squinted his eyes "That's because I'm thinking moron, at least I don't look so dumb and scary whenever I drink from a milk box!"

At first glance, Hinata could see from other reference points how some people in the school saw Kageyama. Tall, scary, selfish, perfectionist, quiet and kind of broody. The humongous wings gave him more credit on the scary department. He had this plain face whenever he was calm, and a permanent scowl whenever he walked among the multitude.

But in reality, It didn't take more than two days, and a small chat on Volleyball to find out that the Tall Pompous-Scary-Faced raven was in reality a Socially Frustrated Childish Nerd. When he came to this realization he couldn't help the snickering, whenever he remembered he tried to suppress his laughter, even when he was near the other boy.

He also noted how Kageyama's eyes held no emotions the mayor part of the time he wasn't thinking or scowling. He noted how the upper feathers of his wings stood up when they walked on the crowded hallway when they returned to classes. He noted how difficult the raven found to properly talk when given the word, how quiet he stayed and itched to answer, but couldn't _because he didn't knew how._ He watched how his eyes sharpened whenever he talked with him about getting better at his Setting skills, on how his eyes shined with respect when he talked about the upperclassman Setter that the Volleyball club had. He also noted a eager glint on his eyes whenever he asked for his opinion on the matter of his skills.

Hinata gave him encouraging smiles, gave him his opinion, gave him the time to vent off his mind, he also gave him his laughter whenever he said something stupid, he gave him _Hello's_ , and also _See you Tomorrow's,_ he gave him what Hinata thought was supposed to be a friend.

* * *

Two weeks later, he finds the raven with a gauze on his left cheek and a cut lip, he was also pretty sure he saw a small purple circle on his right eye. Hinata stares at him, an incredulous look appears on his face, and he's pretty sure he's gaping.

"Hello" is what the other idiot says casually, as if having a beaten face was nothing

"Are you serious? You look like crap, and the proper thing you say to me is _Hello_?"

Kageyama frowns, and looks—incredibly enough—really clueless "Was there another thing I should have said to greet you?"

Hinata's face had a scandalous expression "An ' _I could explain_ ' could have worked at first, it's not like everyday you come and greet your beaten up friend like it's a casual thing. What in hell happened to you?"

"Isn't it obvious? I got into a fight"

Hinata rolled his eyes "And grass is green, idiot"

The tall boy scowled "There's nothing to tell, I got into a fight, and that's it"

Hinata speculated that the other boy was hiding something, he was pretty sure he was hiding something but he decided to let it lie there. He wasn't on deeper terms with the other boy to make him spill the beans in a matter of seconds. And it wasn't as if it was his business, he really couldn't do anything at all.

The ginger sighed "At least tell me that you didn't get in more trouble"

Here Kageyama paled, and his mood changed on a 180 turn. His scowling face softened, and he started to pout, remorse irradiated all around him "I got Banned from School Activities for a week"

It was Hinata's turn to go white and look really worried at the tall raven "But didn't you said that the Inter-High Preliminaries are next week?"

Kageyama covers his eyes with his right hand "Don't remind me" he says with a groan

"What do you plan to do, you big dork? I'm sure your Coach will skin you the moment he finds out"

"As if there was nothing else to worry about..."

They sit down in the hill near Building 3, the wind blows gently and it tickles a bit on Hinata's nape. The grass smells wet, and the clouds cover his blue Void, painting it gray instead. He hugs his knees, and stares ahead, his eyes falling on each window that he can count from building 3. His mind starts skimming over this stupid situation his Idiot of a friend got into.

He would probably never know what passed thought Kageyama's head that got him into this mess of a problem. The other guy told him how everyone was working hard on their training to make a kickstarter on the Preliminaries. One week left and Kageyama could lose condition, one week left, and he was more screwed than he already was.

His head spins around this case for a few more minutes, and then his eyes go blanc.

"Say..." He knows he's got the attention of the raven, his monotone voice being the only thing that pierces the silence "what'd ya think If I said that I got a solution for your big faux pas, would you be willing to take an offer?"

Kageyama eyes him suspiciously just for a bare moment before his eyes change completely to a desperate state.

Hinata grins "Would you like to train with me and my Ol' Man?"

Kageyama's look was priceless, an actual ' _No words_ ' expression plastered across the raven's face "Don't you have work to do?"

"I sued mom for _ages_ to let me have a week off, I did extra rounds over the month and got us another sponsor. I really deserve an award for bursting mi legs off"

"Won't you burst them more if you train? I wouldn't want to ruin your free week"

"Suck it up, take the offer or go suffer, I do whatever I want with my time and If I want to spend it tiring my body helping you mend part of your stupid problem then I will do it so"

Hinata was sure he saw gratefulness in Kageyama's eyes

* * *

Taking this week off was totally worth it. Four hours of training on the small park near his house tolled on Kageyama completely. His face and reaction were priceless when Hinata Minato inspected him on the first day of training. He was really pale and some sweat rolled down his brow, his back was very rigid and his wings were very still.

"Maa, Shou, you said you were bringing a Hard Working player, why did you bring a beaten up Nerd to me?"

Kageyama spluttered at the comment, and Hinata started to laugh.

"What are you laughing at you idiot!?" barked Kageyama with a red face

"It took me two days to appreciate your Nerdness, dad did it in five minutes"

"I'm no Nerd!"

"We'll see that Kageyama-kun, _we'll see that_ " was Minato's amused answer

Hinata's dad was not a miracle maker, he wasn't the greatest coach material because he barely remembers the mayor part of the drills and training stuff he had to endure when he was a High School student, his skill was slowly decaying with time spent at work tinkering with his mind and algorithms, but what he was really good at, was providing his knowledge in the areas that he exceeded in his ' _All-Around_ ' skill campus back then.

"I'll be frank with you, Kageyama-kun, I had more experience in two positions than in the mayor part of them, I wasn't perfect but I could help when we were short on people or when the situation _demanded it_. I would be lying If I told you that I got down and mastered all the important parts of playing Setter, but I will tell you this. From what I learned of it, is that you need to know each of your allies inside the court, you need to observe and find the perfect height, _the perfect point_ where you can toss the ball for the player to hit it."

Hinata—despite being in the basketball court dribbling a ball—could hear clearly the ' _Setter_ _S_ _ermon_ ' of his dad, remembering the first time he got it when he went to see his second Volleyball match on a hot summer day a long time ago.

"Not all the players are the same, and none of 'em will respond with a decent or powerful spike where you think their hands can connect to the ball. None of 'em will respond in the same way I would if you tossed it a little lower for me to hit the ball, none of 'em will respond the same way that Shouyou likes to hit the ball." Hinata was sure his dad's eyes got into that ' _Deep Mode_ ' the moment he said the final phrase "The goal and duty of a Setter, Kageyama-kun, is to bring the fullest of potentials from all his Spikers"

Hinata moved swiftly, started to dribble faster the basketball and proceeded to try and dunk the ball. He was grateful for his jumping prowess, and the fact that his hand could grasp the ring of the board.

"Shouyou! Come here!"

The ginger landed, and took a moment to recover some of his breath. It was a matter of seconds before he was next to his dad. Kageyama stared at him.

"Tell me what you see"

Hinata frowned, and looked incredulously at his father

"A small person" was Kageyama's blunt answer

"Hey!"

"But do you know what this _small person_ has to give? Do you know the power that hides behind this lithe body?"

Kageyama's eyes narrowed and shook his head.

"Go take your position, and prepare to receive" was Minato's order

Kageyama did so, and stood in the middle, his knees bending and ready in a blink of an eye. Minato's eyes changed at his son, and a mischievous glint sparkled on them.

"Left, right or middle?"

Hinata blinked, and stared to the net for a few seconds, his face split into a grin "Death Hanger" was his answer

It began with the ball bouncing between them, and the peace went fast after the third bounce. The older ginger got the ball, and extended his palms, his fingertips touching smoothly the round object and preparing to throw it at his child.

Hinata went immediately for it, to the right corner of the net, he jumped and readied his hand, his body arched perfectly, his air timing being the precise one and the ball on the perfect spot in time. His palm connected with the ball, and spiked it directly at Kageyama.

The other boy couldn't take it properly, and the ball made a painful noise when it connected with his forearms.

"Oooo! Did you see that! I finally hit it!" said excited Hinata, his grin spreading more across his face

"Did you just said _Finally_?!" asked Kageyama, his eyes wide in disbelief

"Yeess! You have no idea how hard it was to hit it on time! It was always too high or too low!"

The raven looked back incredulously at his trainer.

"I told you I wasn't an expert on this. But with this one, I've figured out how to Toss a proper _'Death Hanger'_ at Shouyou. I know he likes to hit them high at times, but in the dead center of the net is when he spikes the best ones"

Kageyama's eyes were trained back at Hinata, his wild grin never leaving his face.

"I won't promise things I cannot do, but within this week, I hope I can help you a little at figuring out when is the best time to toss" the raven's eyes sparkled "And also, I will try to correct your receives, that must have hurt"

Hinata's eyes widened and he immediately bowed down "S-Sorry!"

"And Shouyou has also told me about a little problem of yours" said Minato with a smile "I would like to teach you how to fly too, if you want"

Kageyama stared for a long time, and a very tiny smile appeared in his face "Thank you very much!" he said bowing down

* * *

"Y'know, your accuracy level is so scary, my Ol' man has been having nightmares since Friday, I'm pretty sure you broke his logic, are you sure you're not being drugged with some kind of super-serum or something?"

He was responded with a Milk Box being thrown at his head

It was Monday and tomorrow was the start of the Preliminaries, Kageyama's Ban ended today and he was really sure he was going to receive some kind of spartan punishment from his team.

"Where do you come up with those stupid things? I'm not being drugged dumbass, it just comes naturally to me, I can't find an explanation to why its so easy"

"Oh I do!" The raven's head snapped at him, Hinata inclined his head a little, his forehead barely touched Kageyama's "It's because you're a freaking alien! It all makes sense Kageyama-kun! Your eyes have some kind of special mechanism and whenever you lock 'em on the ball you do this weird ' _Wam_ ' and then the ball goes ' _Whoosh_ ' and your brain makes a ' _Daaa_ ' and all just clicks! Care to share when you were abducted?"

Kageyama leaned to strangle the other guy, the ginger fought against the large hands of the other boy while laughing to his heart content, snarky comments flew away from the raven's mouth, Hinata ignored them all.

He wasn't sure how they ended like this, Kageyama was on top of him, his hands locking his arms on both of his sides, his breathing was heavy and his heart stopped when he saw a weird small smile gracing Kageyama's face.

Only knowing him for three weeks, Hinata had figured out a 50% of this Awkward Idiot. He knew that smiling was a really hard thing the other boy could do— _'_ _Jeez_ _, you have a scary face', 'I was born with this face you Idiot!'—_ smirking was the closest Kageyama could get to imitate a proper smile, but this, this right infront of him, was a progress.

He stared with big eyes at Kageyama

"You are an Idiot" said the raven

Hinata grinned "And you a Moron, but who would you be if you weren't?"

Kageyama _laughed_ , and Hinata's breathing stopped for a moment before he joined him.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to come and watch?" asked Kageyama while they walked to the Gym

Hinata shook his head "I'm sorry, but I have to stay here, this place doesn't have a TV with decent signal and it's not like I can go with you, I'm not even in your club"

"I told you once, join us, you and I work really great, Imagine the things we could do if you played with us"

Hinata stopped, and so did Kageyama when he noticed that he wasn't being followed.

Imagine, imagine, imagine, _imagine_. Three days is what it took to hit the most perfect of spikes he could ever ask for. Variations could follow in the process of weeks, even months. Hinata was conscious of the potential he could achieve with Kageyama. They could become unstoppable.

But that was only a fantasy, because Hinata's eyes moved slightly to notice how the Volleyball team was making their way down from the Lockers to the Gym. And after thinking of it again, all those hopes and wishes came crumbling down when the treat of his sanity came back to bite him.

 _People_ , what would this people think of him? What would this people say of him? What would other people say about him?

 _You don't belong here_

 _What are you doing here?_

 _You are a small disgusting thing_

 _Where are your wings?_

 _Why don't you have wings?_

freak

 _Freak_

 _ **Freak**_

 _ **FREAK**_

"I... don't think I could..." was his quiet answer

Kageyama narrowed his eyes "Yes you could... you're thinking of them aren't you? You're thinking about what people would say"

Hinata shivered when he heard the hard tone in Kageyama's voice, the ginger nodded

"They won't say anything Hinata"

"You just don't know, I'm still afraid Kageyama." Hinata saw how Kageyama balled his hands into fists "For the moment... you can't do anything, I... I really think I need more time, I need to feel sure if I can do it"

"What do I have to do?" the ginger's eyes widened when the raven spoke

"You don't have to do anything, this is a thing I have to do on my own"

"No you don't"

"It is!"

Hinata's voice resonated, and Kageyama's feathers stilled.

 _I'm afraid, what would happen? I don't belong here, I wouldn't. I'm not ready, I don't think I would be ready. I need a reason. I need a real reason. I want to stop Rolling with this, I want to walk, I need to move. But I can't, I just can't._

Hinata was interrupted from his trance when he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders. His brown eyes collided with an opposite color.

"You don't"

The ginger felt how cold the air was, his calves felt cold, his knee pads felt tight, and his neck started to prick a little. His eyes never left from Kageyama's

"You really want me to join don't you?"

A hard nod with hard eyes. Hinata wanted to avoid this, he really wanted to avoid all the reasons to let go and abandon this, he really wanted to let go of this small hope of running away from his fears. He wanted to think about it, he needed more time.

"Then win" Kageyama's eyes softened "You and your team, win the Preliminaries, show me Kageyama-san, that you really want me to join. If you do so, _you have me,_ but if you don't... keep praying for a miracle, because so far I won't change my mind"

He got free from the grip, and turned back, he caught a glimpse of the whole Volleyball team watching him. He gave them his back, and smiled in amusement.

"Don't you dare to loose your frickin' head you damn Pigeon, I don't want to hear that you to lost it. If you want me, then fight, you have your allies, and you don't have to do this alone. Seek for their help, and get rid of that tainted crown ' _King of the Court_ '!"

* * *

He felt like crying, he felt like breaking something, he felt like burning the whole world with the most smallest match. His body hurt, and his rolling feet carried him to the nearest place he could go. Two days had passed since he last saw Kageyama, he knew that the first two matches were won. The ' _Iron Wall_ ' had been penetrated, his dad told him. If they won today's game, they were going directly to the final round. And then he would completely lose it.

Part of him wanted the Volleyball team to win, maybe, just maybe... this was his chance. But the other one wanted the team to lose. Because he really wasn't ready to experience the amount of eyes on him, to experience something that was planned to go like it had just moments ago.

He entered the back of the place, and greeted the tall bulky man. He received a nod, and made his way to the right side of the counter near the bar.

"Ah! Shou-kun!" Hinata gave a small smile when he heard the sweet gentle voice of old lady Izumo "Here, here, take a seat"

"Thanks for having me Baa-san" he said quietly

The old lady noticed his fallen demeanor, and went behind the counter to take a seat. "You don't look so bright Shou-kun, has the delivering been so rough on you this week?"

Hinata shook his head, and his memory replayed what happened just moments ago. He started to tremble "Baa-san I... I want to disappear" he said with a tiny voice

Small wrinkled hands fell gently over his "Shouyou... what happened?"

A tear rolled down and he let it go, he slowly let it go "My greatest fear became real..." he felt a grip on his hand, and his eyes looked at the concerned ones of Granny Izumo, _go on_. "I... I played, with some other guys, they were short on a person, and I—I asked if I could join..."

"That's... wonderful Shou-kun..."

"No it isn't! My team won, I-I helped with the mayor part of the points, It's been so long since I've played Basketball with more people. A—And I-I-I just..." he took a deep breath, more tears rolled down his cheeks " _It happened_ , after we won the other guys started to say things. They started to blame me, they said I was the reason that made them lose, they said that I was an unfair weight and then they started to say things to me... they said that I didn't belong there..."

"Shou-kun, you musn't believe what they said, you know it's not true"

"It's not that... I... I thought about another thing when they started to say that to me... And I felt really worthless... I—I thought about... a stupid thing I said the other day..."

The old lady rose an eyebrow

"I said the most stupid thing to my friend, It fell on me on the last moment that I kind of challenged him... And I'm scared Baa-san... because if he does win against my conditions I will crumble down to the point of choking"

"Why?"

"Because I'm afraid something like this can happen if he wins. I can become an unfair burden, I will become a disappointment and people will burn down what's left of my hopes... Sometimes, I just wish that I could destroy everything, I wish I didn't have to worry about things like this..."

"Shou-kun, please don't give up" Hinata locked eyes again with the old lady "You have to ignore them, you cannot leave your hopes lying on the ground"

"I'm pretty much stuck on the ground..."

"Still! You will see that there are people who won't say anything bad about you, you know that there are people like this, very few I know, but they are there nonetheless. Take Mamiko-chan for example, or Fushida-kun, they don't think of you as something strange. They think and see you as a normal person. They see you as something great! ... Think of your friend Shouyou, I'm sure your friend doesn't care what you are"

"It's because he's an Idiot..."

"It's because he sees you differently as other do"

Hinata averted his eyes, and looked down " _People are disgusting_..."

He heard small noises on the back side of the wall behind him, he smelled Granny Izumo's Apple Curry and some Special Meat Bombs, he felt how his insides started to crack, and how he stilled when he understood that they were being heard by whoever was on the other side of the wall. His body started to tremble and his nose started to run down some snot.

"You yourself shouldn't feel disgusting at the eyes of other people" wrinkled hands moved to cup his face, his brown eyes connected with the old lady's black ones, and more salty tears rolled down from them "You are far better than they think, you will see that your time will come, you are a piece of sun and you soon will find people that will value you for the way you shine"

Izumo smiled warmly, and Hinata trembled in appreciation

"But for that to happen, you have to accept yourself first Shou-kun"

* * *

Work tolled on him on the next month, he avoided Kageyama on the small time the two spent together at school. Their business took another direction and it slowly started to expand, a local store decided to sponsor their product, and Hinata found himself smashing more than eight boxes of strawberries on the weekends. His deliveries became more frequent than he ever hoped they could get, never in his life had his legs ached for so long.

He stopped abruptly when Exam Week was so close to starting. He was completely grateful he could get a little bit of rest. What he was not grateful for tho, was when he got himself a full load of Kageyama's presence after the first break bell. The ginger felt like throwing himself to the window.

"Where have you been?" was Kageyama's bold starter words

"In hell apparently, you need something?"

Hinata prayed that Kageyama didn't bring up a conversation that had to do with joining the team. As far as he knew the school lost against Seijo. He felt like Kageyama would find another way to convince him, or maybe bring up another challenge to prove himself.

None of his speculations came to light, instead Kageyama pouted and avoided his eyes, he was sure he saw the other blush.

"I need your help" he said with a grumpy tone

"If this goes along the lines of _machine_ or _money_ , then no, I've got better things to do than helping you survive your lactose fetish"

The raven glared at him "Milk is good for your bones, maybe that's the reason why you're still a midget and haven't passed from 1.50"

Hinata turned pink and countered "I'm 1.62 you dick, at least I'm not tall and scary!"

"I'm not scary!"

"Have you seen your face lately?"

"There's nothing wrong with it!"

"You have a scowl all day, I'm starting to speculate that you wear it 24/7"

"I don't scowl, this is how I look!"

"My point still stands"

Kageyama covered his face with his hands, his elbows connected with Hinata's desk. "Look, I need your help with my studies"

The ginger narrowed his eyebrows "You need my help, with _studying_?"

"Didn't you heard me? Why do you think I'm here?"

"To make my existence a little harder"

Kageyama groaned "Look, there's a Summer Training Camp around the corner, and Exams start next week and... the requirement to attend is to have approving marks"

"Please tell me that you're not failing all your assignments" Kageyama's face told him everything " _Oh my God_ "

Hinata was no genius, nor he was intelligent to the point of _Perfect Student_ , but he had decent marks, he excelled on two signatures and the rest were just average. He was glad he didn't have to go to Cram School on summers. He really couldn't lose his time rotting his head while he had a job that needed to be done.

"Other people are helping me, I'm not asking you to do it with every single subject but... Ishino-sensei told me that you had the top mark on Biology"

Damn, sometimes he wished Biology wasn't so easy. He was _this close_ from telling the other boy to drop dead. But those blue eyes did the trick of punching down his ass mannerism. This guy really wanted to go—this guy had a goal—and like Hinata, he wanted to apply the _'No time for this'_ action campaign. Kageyama couldn't lose his time cramming his head here if he wanted something. He too had a job to do.

The ginger sighed and laid back in his chair " _Fine_ , I'll help you, but after this I want you to do your best in school, you hear me? So next time you have something like a Camp or a Cup you don't have to lay your restricted ass here on school. You don't have the time to be here and sulk away your problems"

"I promise" said the raven

"I also don't want to be responsible for your dumb butt whenever finals come, so you better put attention to every single thing I say, you hear me!?"

"Yes!"

"Fine, now get out of here, we start tomorrow. I need a free week if I want to stuff your head with Cells and Fungus"

* * *

The free week permission was granted more easily than he bargained for, he heard his mom muttering very giddishly something about ' _Miracles_ ' and ' _Relationships_ '. The tutoring took place on lunch breaks and on a borrowed hour of Kageyama's Volleyball afternoon practice. The free time that he had left was spent on the near Basketball court and shopping some sweets and meat buns. He also did a re-cap of the things he was going to teach to his friend.

 _His friend_. Never in his short life would he have thought that he would use that word. He would never have thought that he would get attached to another person that wasn't on his family circle. He would never have thought that he would be helping another person with his problems, even if before starting their friendship he said he would never do it.

Hinata didn't understand why he was doing this. He could be doing better things, like... _Like what_? His life didn't expand away from going to school, working and spending his time rolling. Man, his life sucked. Now that he thought about it, never in his life had he ever agreed to tutor someone, never in his life did he agree like it was nothing to help someone.

The reason was simple, no one dared or cared to bat and eye on him. Hinata for a long time was kind of grateful of that, he didn't have to handle people that would give him cold shoulders and ignore him. But slowly he felt very lonely. He felt like he would always be by himself for all his life. His attempts to make a friend always went crumbling down the hill, and he completely gave up when he realized nobody would ever care about him.

"Sorry, I'm late"

But then this idiot appeared. He appeared from thin air holding his goggles and asking for owed favors. He didn't knew what he had done to win this person's interest, if this tie with him would last for a while, or if at some point it would brake and he would be left alone.

Kageyama took the seat that was in front of him. There was sweat in his brow, and his jacket was slightly zipped-up. Hinata's hand started to play with the pencil he was holding, and stared a little more to the other boy.

"Yes you are, I've been waiting for you for the last 20 minutes. If I don't arrive home for dinner then you will burn with my hunger."

The raven looked very apologetic, his blue eyes went down "Sorry..."

Hinata snorted "Jeez, if people knew how soft you are they would take advantage of you, thank goodness that I'm the only who knows that you're a big kid"

"Hey! I'm no kid, I'm sorry If I didn't make it in time and made you lose some"

"You made me lose all my time when you told me you needed tutoring to mend your dumb grades"

Okay, now he started to think that the reason he didn't have friends in the first place was because he was very rude. It was maybe a defense mechanism or something? Act-react thing? People were rude to him, was it natural to respond with being rude too?

Kageyama looked now guilty, and his vibe was passing to Hinata too.

"I remember you said that even if you had to help me, you wouldn't do it at all. I could... just go and ask another person to do it, if it really bothers you..."

"No!" he said really loudly, Kageyama looked very surprised, and Hinata was sure he was very red "I'm sorry If I'm being rude, but this is new to me, I've never been asked to tutor someone, I've never thought that someone would need my help. I guess I would gladly do it because it's the right thing to do, a-a-and I guess I-I-It's because I-I... want some attention"

Hinata felt his face burn, the raven only stared

"But you—"

"Forget what I said that day, okay? It never crossed my head that I would get attached to you very quickly, It never crossed my head that I would be very happy to be with someone so dumb and great like you. It never crossed to me that I needed company so badly, and now I'm pretty sure you think that I'm selfish. But... I'm kind of happy that I can take and spend my time with you, because sometimes I don't know what to do with it"

Kageyama was now gaping at him, and the ginger wanted nothing more than to dig a hole and bury himself in it. Maybe the earth would swallow him and save him form this embarrassment.

"Then I'm glad!" the ginger felt how his heart stopped "I'm glad because I think the same!"

Both of them had burning heads, but Hinata then grinned, and Kageyama's eyes sparkled.

They decided to use what remained of time to progress with the content that needed to be studied. They did the same in what remained of the week. Hinata's mom always asked his son whenever he returned home how his ' _Study Date_ ' had gone. He ignored her and went to his room with a beat red face.

* * *

Three weeks later he finds himself in Saitama with six of the best players that Ookamiori High ever had. His dad dragged him to Kanto against his will, and made him pack for three days in less than ten minutes. Business aside, turns out his father was going to have a friendly reunion match with his former teammates and some players from Jadani High.

" _It's the Clash of Survival, Wolves against Snakes, the hunter against it's pray. To live or be eaten. To be eaten or to kill. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity Shouyou!"_

" _Didn't you said we were going to get the Alchemical permission?"_

" _We can do that the next day, what's important, my son, is that you will see your boss Rock n' Roll again on his position as Libero!"_

" _More like you will roll on a rock after not playing for so long"_

" _So mean Shou!"_

That brings us here, with Hinata rolling on his way with a bag of watter bottles on a fairly crowded University Gym. He sets his package on the bench and proceeds to sit. His eyes travel to the court at the opposite team, dressed in different green shirts. His dad's team is dressed in variants of gray, his Ol' Man sticks like a sore thumb with his yellow shirt.

The game starts, and Hinata only watches the slow peace it takes. His eyes never leave the ball, nor each player's movements. His ears ring with each spike, blocking and thumping the ball makes whenever it makes contact with skin or the floor. Sooner than later the first set ends, Former Jadani taking the lead.

Hinata hands the water bottles to the older men, and proceeds to stand up on his skates and leave some space for the elders to sit.

"Crap..." mutters one of the bunch

"What is it Hakuro?"

"It's an emergency, I need to go" said the man with his phone in hand

One spits his water and looks really scandalized "But you can't go! We're only seven!"

"I can stop playing Libero and substitute him Hyuuga, It's not like the world will end" said Minato

"Hell no! With you playing as Libero we've got our defense at its max! If Hakuro goes, part of our attack power will decrease. We need a substitute"

Hinata felt the hairs of his neck prickle when he felt a pair of burning eyes on him. _OH NO_

"Sooo... can my son play as Hakuro's replacement?"

The smaller ginger felt like dropping dead right there. All eyes were on him, the judging stares present like everytime he was introduced to someone.

"What can you do Chibi-Hina?"

"Um... I'm good with receives, and I can jump pretty high!" he said with a straight back and a nervous face

"He's fast! He has sharp senses and can play Middle Blocker!" added his father

"Do you have a change or something? You can't play in Roller Skates Chibi-san!"

He was glad he was wearing his dark gray stripped shirt, unfortunately he left his shoes on the Hotel room with his other belongings, Hakuro had to lend him his' and Minato was left in charge to return them back when all of this ended.

The submission of player took a little of time from the second set, but when everything was ready and he stepped a foot inside the court, Hinata could feel all the eyes on him, stares, stares, stares, stares. He got ready on his position, but he was pretty sure he was trembling, his breathing was turning a little forced and he looked everywhere to look assured that he was going to be okay, that he wasn't going to screw up, that he wasn't going to disappoint and be thrown away form here. He wanted to cry then and there.

He felt a hand on his left shoulder, and his eyes darted to the bespectacled man next to him.

"We're not going to judge you Shouyou-san, please bear with us and lend us your help in this"

His trembling stopped, and he could breath again.

This set, however, went very fast and everyone got fired up the moment Hinata hit a toss that seemed impossible to do, because there's a tiny wingless person _flying_ right up on their noses and they couldn't do anything against that spike. The green clad players looked at him in disbelief while his dad and the gray players started to _howl_ —literally _—_ in celebration.

Lot's of points were taken and recovered, all the other side of the Former Jadani was very disquiet the moment the front row got fooled with Hinata's speed. He could feel the fire burning inside the court, and he didn't know if this feeling was terrifying or pleasant. His blocking skills were average, and he teamed up with his dad when the older man tossed to him on the air, Former Ookamiori countered with another thundering spike.

The second set goes in their favor, and they win the last one the moment nobody seems to get an impossible falling ball. Hinata saved all their asses the moment he reacts in instinct and goes all the way down until his legs make a perfect split, his body goes forward, and his palm saves the ball that bounces back on air. Hyuuga hits it when the bespectacled Setter tosses it at him.

Marker ends (1:2) Former Ookamiori winning the Clash of Survival. Hinata lays on the floor for a little longer, and Hyuuga is the one who comes and helps him up from the floor.

"That was amazing Shou-kun! Your dad's Libero skills rest beneath your genes after all! You were really incredible, I never thought I would get fired up again after a long time!"

The rest of the team comes to praise him, and little tears trail down his cheeks, the moment they end the match by greeting thanks to the other team is when he looses it. They shake hands with the opponent team, and in the end, the scary looking player from the other side towers over him. He notices that one of his caramel wings is shorter, but that doesn't take away the spooky atmosphere that surrounds this man.

He stretches his hand, and his eyes shine with respect. Hinata takes it immediately.

"I'm sorry" says the older man

"E-eh? Why?"

"I misjudged you the moment you entered to play... And I'm sorry for it. You play really great. And I wouldn't doubt it twice If I ever were to play against you again"

Hinata started to tremble, and his hand felt hot, but the other man didn't let go yet

"You just showed me that you need no wings to fly high, I will look forward to watch you play with your team"

Tears now are going down Hinata's eyes, and the older man now panics when he hears small sobs coming from the ginger.

"I'm sorry to disappoint... but I have no team... I would never be accepted in one..."

"Yes you will" says the man while his bigger wing ruffles behind him "I believe you will"

Hinata let's go of the grip and takes two steps back, his eyes sting, his body won't stop trembling, he wants to leave from here.

"Thank you"

He ran away.

"Wait! Shouyou!"

* * *

 _You have a lot of potential in everything_

 _You will see that there are people who won't say anything bad about you_

 _You have determination, you are clever, and nice_

 _ **You have a chance too**_

 _You are far better than they think_

 _You intrigue me because I can't understand you_

 _You will see that your time will come_

 _ **You could do anything, yet you are the reason you can't accept what you can do**_

 _ **PEOPLE ARE DISGUSTING**_

 _I traded what makes you a normal person in the eyes of others for the right to live_

 _Never come and spat me on the face your stupid things about being worthless and pathetic_

 _This is a thing I have to do on my own_

 _Y_ _ou and I work really great, Imagine the things we could do_

 _Do on my own_

 _Y_ _ou're thinking of them aren't you? You_ _'re_ _thinking about what people would say_

 _On m_ _y own_

 _ **They won't say anything Hinata**_

 _They don't think of you as something strange_

 _People,_ _people_ _are the_ _reason_ _why_ _I can't step forward_

They think and see you as a normal person

" _ **The nobody that can see beyond the Different"**_

 _They see you as something great!_

"Can I change that to someone?"

DISGUSTING

 _I've learned to Roll with it, Rolling is the only thing I can do_

 **You Know Nothing**

 _You will see that your time will come_

"But do you know what this _small person_ has to give?"

Think of your friend Shouyou

 _Join the Volleyball club_

I'm sure your friend doesn't care what you are

"I may not know you very well, **but I would like to** "

 _Do you know the power that hides behind this lithe body?_

 _Rolling, Rolling, Rolling, Rolling, Rolling_

 _You were really incredible_

 _You just showed me that you need_ no wings to fly _high_

 _ **I misjudged you**_

 _I could... just go and ask another person to do it_

STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP

 _If it really bothers you_

 _I can become an **unfair burden**_

 _You cannot leave your hopes lying on the ground_

I will **crumble down** to the point of **choking**

 _You have to ignore them_

I'M DISGUSTING

 _I will look forward to watch you play_

 _I will become a d **isappointment**_

 _Y_ _ou are a_ _piece of_ _sun_

" _I've heard he has no friends"_

" _You know how people call him?"_

 _People will burn down what's **left** of my_ hopes

" _What a pity, I bet he wants to kill himself"_

 _ **Rolling Boy**_

 _What do I have to do?_

 _I believe you will_

 _And I'm sorry for that_

 _We're not going to judge you_

"You soon will find people that will value you for the way you shine"

 _Please bear with us and lend us your help in this_

I'M AN IDIOT

 _It never crossed my head that I would get attached to you very quickly_

"I'm sorry"

 _It never crossed my head that I would be very happy to be with someone so dumb and great like you_

 _I'm glad because **I think the same**!_

 _ **You yourself shouldn't feel disgusting at the eyes of other people**_

"I don't think you're pathetic"

 **You have to Accept yourself First**

* * *

One week passes, and he's now lying on the hill near his home. He and his dad made a silent agreement to never bring up the thing that happened after he ran away from the gym.

" _Remember that I will be here if you want to talk about it"_

In all honesty, he didn't know If he really wanted to. He didn't know what he wanted to do now. What he was supposed to do now. He still felt insecure, but with what happened on that moment between him and the looming man left Hinata breaking down. Because he wasn't expecting that, the pity, the disgust, the judging stare. _It was not there_. It never was there.

It was too good to be true. He was misjudged, and the man apologized.

No one had ever done that. No one had ever apologized for making that mistake. Hinata really didn't know what to make of that. He believed that he would continue crossing the road that he knew so well. It turned out that everything had been changed completely at one point. He realized this when it downed on him who was the responsible that broke this cycle that he was accustomed to.

"So you are here"

Kegeyama Tobio

"And what if I'm so? Where the hell did you come from?"

"My house" the ' _obviously_ ' remained unspoken

"How did you know I was here?"

"I... had a hunch... that and your mom told me you weren't home"

"Give it to mom to tell people my whereabouts..."

Kageyama sat next to him, he heard the feathers of his wings rustle gently with his movements. They stayed like that for a little while, there was no wind currents at the moment, his blue void was slowly darkening, the cries of twilight adorning the ceiling. The summer heat tho, was present, and warmed the both of them to the core, it wasn't unpleasant at all.

"You were amazing at the match in Saitama"

Hinata felt how every vibe of life escaped from his body the moment those words escaped from Kageyama's stupid mouth.

"You were there?" he asked with a hoarse voice

"Yeah, Training Camp was actually held there. Also, Th-thanks... for the tutoring, I didn't have to stay for Cram School at the end"

"How come you were there?"

"We were doing our usual training, and then Coach Nekomata said that the training of the day gets postponed for once. Later we're taken to a public Gym and we're told that we're going to watch an old classic fight. Something more intense than a _Battle of the Trash Heap_ "

Hinata snorted " _Clash of Survival_ , the hunter against the pray, the Wolves against the Snakes"

"You leaved a groundbreaking impression on the other teams we stayed with"

Hinata covered his face "Oh god..."

"You have now more credit that you could ever ask to get inside the team Hinata"

"I'm pretty sure it all burned down the moment I ran away to have my Meltdown"

The ginger heard a 'snap' and his whole body tensed now, _oh no_... he said something wrong

"A Meltdown..." Kageyama's voice was hard, he heard something rustle "What did that man said that made you break down?"

Hinata was pretty sure the other boy was angry, he wasn't sure why, but somehow he was terrified

"Hinata"

That sounded as a warning, what was happening? Why did Kageyama's voice sound angry? What had he done to make the raven angry.

" _Hinata_ "

Kageyama saw everything, from the moment Hakuro left the Gym, to the moment he stepped inside the court, to the one where he spiked that impossible ball, to the last one where he saved the game. He stayed until the end. He stayed until the moment he was left a crying mess and had to flee before he shattered to pieces.

"Shouyou!"

He said others saw, there were more people who saw how he changed faster that a TV channel. From bright colors to a mess of static in less than five minutes. What a great first impression, what a great presentation, what a great show.

 _How utterly disgusting_

He wasn't sure when or how it happened, but he was being held. He felt arms around his body in a strong grip, holding him like he needed to be. His arms did the same, and settled down on the lower part of the humongous body. Something was covering him because he saw black. All he saw at the moment was black.

He realized he was crying when he felt how hard breathing was becoming. How his throat felt dry, how his eyes itched with the salty tears that made their way down his face. His noes was now starting to run snot. He was really sure he looked like a hideous mess.

He then screamed.

He screamed and let everything out. His trembling body was nearly giving away, but he couldn't afford that, he really wanted this to finish, he wanted all this confusion, all this pain, all this pity, disgust, hatred, all this misery to go away. He wanted all of this to end, he wanted to be normal, he wanted to burn all his cares, he wanted to drown all his fears.

He wanted everything of this to end.

His sore throat throbs, he starts hiccuping, and his grip never loosens from the strong body he's holding.

He feels a hand on the center of his back, pressing against the soft fabric where his scars are. His whole body stills, because it's a foreign feeling, because no one—not even his family—had touched his back like that for a long long time.

"I..." he says with a small voice

"It's alright..."

Hinata then registers that it was Kageyama all along. He had another episode, and Kageyama was the one that held him while he went through it.

"I'm sorry..." he said, small tear droplets coming out from his puffy eyes "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

The hand on his back shifts for a small moment, as if hesitating on something. It then moves slowly to the nape of his neck to his head. Kageyama gently pulls his head, and blue eyes clash with brown.

"Please... d-don't be sorry, p-please don't cry..." he feels how their foreheads touch, and Hinata starts to feel sleepy "You must be tired..."

"I'm tired of everything" he says with a quiet voice "I'm so tired of Rolling"

"Then stop... you can stop now..."

"There's no one who can help me..."

"I'm here"

He then feels something soft against his lips. It feels so tender and warm, it feels like nothing else than comfort. You can rest now, you no longer have to be alone. You no longer have to feel bad about you, you no longer have to care about others.

You don't have to Roll any more

It then goes away, slowly. And Hinata now stares at Kageyama. His dull eyes sparkle, and he's not wearing his scowl. His expression is calm, concerned, worried. He feels warm, and he doesn't want to let go.

He manages to give a small smile.

"I guess you are... Moron"

Kageyama laughs softly, and Hinata slowly drowns in the sound.

* * *

 **I hate that this site only has middle and left place when it comes to text, in AO3 the Breakdown text looks more decent and it's more pleasing to read. Hope you Enjoyed**

 **~Ai Link**


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